Curt Cignetti has a simple message for anyone doubting the Indiana Hoosiers.
On Wednesday, Indiana's coach was a guest on Mark Ingram's The Triple Option podcast and broke down his team's case to make the College Football Playoff. In an impressive segment, IU's first-year coach explained exactly why his team should be a contender to make the playoff.
Indiana's schedule has been used against the undefeated Hoosiers when observers have argued their worthiness of participating in the postseason tournament. Cignetti attempted to shut that talk down.
"Well you know these schedules are set years in advance. I mean, Alabama played Mercer, Georgia played Chattanooga, right? Vanderbilt played Georgia State but lost," Cignetti said. "I mean, the schedule is what it is and the fact of the matter is we've beaten seven P4 teams, right? Every single one of those teams had a winning record when we played them, except two were .500. And one was 5-1, one was 3-1. And we also beat the defending national champ and runner up.
"And for the most part, except for the Michigan game, every game has been a decisive victory. We didn't even trail until two weeks ago. We were behind at Michigan State 10-0 first quarter and rattled off 47 straight."
Then he capped it off by saying, "Do your research. Google us. So that you know something about us besides our name and what we've done in the past. And what somebody else says about our schedule."
You heard @CCignettiIU...put some respect on the Hoosiers name 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/X6pW5zClI6
— The Triple Option (@3xOptionShow) November 20, 2024
After being named Indiana's head coach last December, Cignetti was asked how he would sell his vision for the program to recruits and players in the transfer portal. He famously said, "I win. Google me."
That phrase has become a bit of a rallying cry for Cignetti and the Hoosiers this season and he's deployed it again.
What the 63-year-old has done in his first season in Bloomington has been remarkable. He is 10-0 and 7-0 in the Big Ten. Indiana had won nine games in the last three seasons combined. Cignetti went 11-1 at James Madison last year, so he has currently won 21 of the last 22 games he has coached (he left for Indiana before JMU's bowl game loss).
Cignetti and the Hoosiers travel to Columbus to face 9-1 Ohio State on Saturday.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Curt Cignetti Drops Passionate Argument to Doubters of Indiana's CFP Case.
